It's that time of year again, and I've got the travel bug! The adventures will begin with the whole family in Vietnam and Cambodia. After my dad flies home, my ma, sister, and I will explore the beaches of Thailand. Then, my sister and I are let loose to roam Southeast Asia heading towards Nepal and northern India. Mid April I fly to Zambia to volunteer for a month at Appeased School before starting work in San Francisco. Ready or not, HERE I COME!

Monday, September 24, 2012

Is this Jurassic Park??

Day 1 (Saturday)

The plan was to fly into Cairns, pick up the camper van,
grab our surf boards and start the adventure south. We flew in half an hour
early which put us at 4:15 am. Thankfully we decided to sleep on the first
seats we saw because there were noooo seats as soon as you left the secured
area. Just before 8:00 we hopped in a cab to grab our camper. Everything went
really smoothly and we had our “hippie camper” named Sheldon, groceries, and
surfboards in less than an hour. Our plans changed a little and we headed north
to hit Mossman Gorge followed by Cape Tribulation. This extended our whole
travel by a couple hundred km.

First we sung by Port Douglas to put our feet in the water.
We were in a large cove called 4 mile beach. On a short hike we were able to
see sea turtles down below. After a quick nap on the beach, we continued north.

Mossman Gorge was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! It was a national
park and only cost $4 to take a bus to the entrance of the main hike. There was
an hour hike and then we swam in the river. It felt like we were in Hawaii. The
scenery was very tropical. It was a blue bird day and the humidity wasn’t too
bad. The river was clear as can be and there were huge boulders lining the
side. If fairies existed, they would TOTALLY live here.

We entered the movie Jurassic Park when we headed to Cape
Tribulation. It got more humid, there were no houses anywhere, the plant growth
was very thick, and you could feel an animal was always watching you. To get to
Cape Tribulation, you have to take a ferry across the river. The ferry runs
from 6am-12pm so if you need to leave between those times, you are… oh how do
you say it… completely screwed! While driving up to the beach, we pasted a
cassowary eating a smashed creature in the other lane. I couldn’t help by think…
WE ARE IN JURASSIC PARK! The beach was beautiful, but there was no swimming due
to crocks and jellyfish. Yicks! There was even a bottle of vinegar tied to the
beach sign incase you were dumb enough to test your luck.

Since our adventures were straying from our original plan, we
decided not to stay in Cape Tribulation but head south. As vague and
non-specific as our plan were, we could spend that night anywhere but wanted to
at least get below Cairns. At about 10:30 we pulled into Bramston Beach. The
camp ground host was asleep by the time we parked so we woke up at about 6 am
and left before the host was awake. We reparked at the beach and continued to
sleep for free. This way we didn’t get fined for parking at the beach all
night, and we didn’t have to pay for the campsite… We’re thinking like true
travelers!